Cari Caramonta: Mother of Malts

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

It’s a tale as old as time (cue twinkly, sparkly music), boy meets girl, boy likes beer, boy teaches girl to like beer, boy brews beer, girl pushes boy to open commercial brewery, girl make brewery a success while wild boy brews beer all day, girl makes boy get a haircut. Okay, so obviously the story of the Caramonta’s and how they came to own what is one of South Louisiana’s favorite breweries isn’t simple and cliché and would better be accompanied by insane electric guitar riffs…

Cari Caramonta, Co-founder and Creative Director of Gnarly Barley Brewing in Hammond, LA

It all started in 2005 when Cari and Zac Caramonta met at Southeastern Louisiana University. “I really did not know shit about craft beer,” says Cari, “…and then, he opened my eyes to it, brought me to Red, White, and Brew (an awesome beer bar/shop in Hammond) while we were in college to try all of these awesome beers.”

Cari said when Zac expressed a desire to home-brew, he knew it wouldn’t be enough to use a crappy starter kit. After tasting the kinds of beers Zac produced, Cari saw his potential she encouraged him to pursue his love of brewing even further. Zac easily admits that if it weren't for Cari’s support and particular set of skills, he would have never thought of brewing commercially and yours truly would be left without my craft beer spirit animal: Gnarly Barley Brewing.

“Personally, I love building the business. I enjoy marketing and branding. I think it’s cool that we bring a different dynamic to the table,” Cari said. Watching this brewery grow over the past year makes my heart swell. Knowing Zac and Cari well, I know that Gnarly Barley would not be here today if it weren’t for Cari.

Cari has an outgoing, infectious, bad-ass personality… you know, she’s the kind of girl you want to hang out and drink beers with. Website management, social media guru, special event coordinator, checkbook sultan, extra sack of barley fetcher, merchandise designer, distribution liaison, and expert Zac wrangler are a few of her job titles and add to that mother-to-be.

Though Zac brews beers that are absolutely on point, Gnarly Barley would have been like the Titanic without Cari. Sure, everyone was drinking and having a good time and things looked great, until they didn’t, and that’s where Cari comes in. Without her at the helm, Gnarly Barley would have never stepped foot outside of the garage.

Now, if only Cari could answer her phone, introduce herself when people call asking for Zac, and then hang up or leave messages for Zac (that Zac can’t answer because Cari is in charge), all would be better in the wacky world of Gnarly Barley. Let it be known that there are some talented, intelligent, boss ladies in charge of your beer, gentlemen, and I’m sure they’re growing tired of being overlooked and undermined.

Let’s face it, this is Cari’s world and we’re all living in it.

This post is part of a monthly series spotlighting Louisiana women in the business of booze. Previous features include:

Natalie Parbhoo: Duchess of Distribution

Lindsay Nations: Baroness of Beer

Dori Murvin: Sorceress of Service

Nora McGunnigle: Headmistress of Hops

Myna Arroyo: Vino Valedictorian

Brandi Lauck: Warden of Whiskey

1804 Old Fashioned: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

1804 Old Fashioned at Lock & Key

There are a plethora of fantastic cocktails on the menu at Lock & Key and lately they haven't been shy about introducing new ones. Or in some cases, really old ones.

Take, for example, the 1804 Old Fashioned. This recipe actually dates back to the early 1800s when it was simply known as a cocktail. It includes Angostura bitters, a sugar cube, 1792 small batch bourbon, and a twist of lemon rind.

Notice that there are no muddled oranges or cherries. That's how you know it really is old school!

You can find this Old Fashioned along with many other varieties at the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. You can of course also find lots of other whiskey (and whisky for those that care about the "e") based cocktails, too.

A Little Soul in the Old Heart of Baton Rouge: Dominique's Stockyard Café

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Many argue that Baton Rouge struggles to find a food identity, but sometimes, what I love most about our culinary culture is the variety. I hail from Sulphur, Louisiana which is home to mostly chain restaurants, mediocre Tex-Mex, and simple Americana, so moving to Baton Rouge for school became a gastronomic awakening.

Baton Rouge does a handful of things really well, and soul food is absolutely one of them.

I’ve always been an adventurous eater and made a conscientious effort to seek out hidden gem eateries to which the average college student might not venture. However, Dominique’s Stockyard Café is something I didn’t find until under the seasoned wing of Jay Ducote.

Pulling up to the Stockyard Café, I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting it to be an actual stockyard. Already charmed by the exterior, I entered into the café to the smell of one of the greatest things on the planet: lunch.

I am very into mac n’ cheese always, but I’ve found that soul food places tend to make theirs with spaghetti noodles. It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard. A bite of that with the gravied up meatloaf punched a one-way ticket to nap city.

Meat Loaf over Rice & Gravy with Mac n' Cheese and Cornbread

Meanwhile, Jay had a rib in one hand, fried okra in another, and a goofy grin on his face. Sides of flavor bursting cornbread dressing and gravy, hearty greens, and a few strips of delectably crispy fried catfish decorated the table. Pair everything with the smiling faces of people cooking good food, and each bite becomes more heavenly than the last.

Cornbread Dressing with Gravy, Fried Okra, and Greens

Crispy Fried Catfish and a plethora of more delicious sides at Stockyard Café

If you find yourself near the Old Mississippi River Bridge craving cozy home cooking at a decent price, Stockyard is a great place to stop in. And, you can actually see old Stockyard while you're there!

LA1 is back, but it won't last long! Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

LA1 right on the bottling line

It is Whisk(e)y Wednesday, and that means a weekly blog post about this amazing elixir.

It is also Wine Wednesday. It isn't as often celebrated at Bite and Booze, but today is special with the launch of Jay D's Blanc Du Bois!

But back to whiskey... it is time to get excited for another batch of LA1 Whiskey from the Donner-Peltier Distillery.

The Thibodaux distillery, also known for their Rougaroux rums and Oryza vodka and gin, has a limited amount of LA1 available. If you are interested, call the distillery at 985-446-0002 to place your order.

It usually doesn't last very long when the whiskey is released, and because it is so popular, hardly any gets released to bars and retailers. So why not make a little trip to Thibodaux to grab some and see the distillery?!

Hopefully Lock & Key can get a couple bottles. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

LA1 won a Gold Medal at the San Francisco Spirit awards. It is also the first aged whiskey legally distilled in Louisiana since prohibition.

Between Two Shells: Oysters Rockefeller and the Louisiana Mule

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

The Louisiana Mule and Rockefeller Oyster at Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar in Downtown Baton Rouge

I’m not a girl of many talents. There are some that may contest this, but I feel like I have a small skill set that consists of things that are relatively useless with only a few exceptions: I tend to find good parking spots, I have the patience and determination it takes to tackle an entire season of a television series in one day, and I have a knack for pairing drinks with food. Having that said, at Jolie Pearl, when it comes to pairings, the world is your oyster…get it?

Now that you’re done laughing, let’s explore the harmonious flavor profiles of the Louisiana Mule and Rockefeller Oyster.

The Louisiana Mule at Jolie Pearl is prepared with Louisiana White Lightning Whiskey instead of vodka. This gives the drink an extra layer of boozy flavor. With slight moonshine notes from the whiskey, the concoction is spicy, herbaceous, and refreshing. I paired it with the Rockefeller because of the licorice flavors of the Pernod and earthiness of the spinach.

The more grounded flavors of the oyster are like the moms (or dads) of your friend groups. They keep you from getting carried away, but you’re still allowed to party. While the flavors in the Louisiana mule work together, they are separately extremely strong flavors, so it pairs deliciously with a toned down, classic, and scrumptious Rockefeller oyster.

Whether you’re eating them raw, baked, or char-grilled, you’re going to want to run, don’t walk, to Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar. Check back here for more pairings each month, and take a look at this pairing that we've already tasted and tested:

Raw Gulf Oysters and Fresh Margaritas

High West Whiskey Son of Bourye: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

High West Whiskey Son off Bourye

The High West Whiskey Son of Bourye presents a blend of straight bourbon and rye whiskeys to create an extremely satisfactory elixir. At 46% ABV, the whiskey from Utah packs a good punch. The booze comes through on the nose along with vanilla and candy corn. On the tongue we picked up flavors like spiced caramel, white pepper, and a slight smoke. On the finish it stings a little with the spiciness from the rye. Pepper, hay, and a hint of mint at the end coat your tongue on the way down.

The whiskey is very complex with the nose, taste, and finish all providing different flavors. The one knock that I'd give the whiskey is that those flavors don't come together in as balanced of a way as I'd like. The flavors are distinct and complex, but not quite all woven together in harmony. At $9 a pour at Lock & Key, this whiskey actually get a great "bang for the buck" score. It is undoubtedly worth the money for anyone who wants to give it a try!

High West Whiskey Son of Bourye
Average Score: 84.67

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, and Eric Ducote from BR Beer Scene. Using our own proprietary scoring system, whiskeys are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, Balance and Complexity, and "Bang for the Buck" which should encompass the whiskey's overall value. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable, you'd let somebody buy you one) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss, anything above 80 is rather extraordinary, and anything above 90 is world class.

Goin' Up on a Tuesday: Best Tuesday Eats in Baton Rouge

by Sydney"Brown Nose" Blanchard

If you're like me, weekends can be as busy and stress-inducing as any weekday. Washing and folding laundry, grocery shopping for the week and running errands sometimes leaves me and my squad no time to party on the weekend.

The only solution, then, is to go up on a Tuesday.

Certainly, ILOVEMAKONNEN and Drake feel me on this.

If goin' up on a Tuesday sounds like something you want to make a weekly tradition, you're in luck. These Baton Rouge eateries and watering holes have Tuesday specials that will make Tuesdays your new favorite night of the week.

After all, Goin' Up on a Tuesday > Thirsty Thursday. 

The Rum House

Beer, lamb and veggie tacos at Rum House

It seems like every restaurant that serves tacos does some form of Taco Tuesday, which is ideal. Tacos were made for Tuesdays. At Rum House, Taco Tuesdays mean $2 draft beer and $2 tacos. Throw in a side of fried plantains if you're feeling crazy because, hey, you deserve it.

The Chimes (both locations) & Parrain's

The Chimes & Parrain's are owned by the same company, and they get one thing right: half off raw oysters on Tuesday... ALL DAY. Usually, a dozen costs about $10, and every day besides Tuesday, they're half off only between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m. That's what makes Tuesdays so magical. You can get your raw oyster on at your leisure. 

Chicken Shack

Golden fried chicken at Chicken Shack

Everyone who's anyone in Baton Rouge knows about Chicken Shack. And if you're pining for fried chicken on a Tuesday, you can't beat their two-piece Tuesday deal: a fried chicken leg and thigh for $1.45. Once you try Chicken Shack, no other fried chicken will do.

Olive or Twist

Whether or not it's National Burger Month, a $5 hamburger always gets my mouth watering. Olive or Twist offers a $5 burger each Tuesday. While you're chowing down, grab a cocktail or wash down your burger with a cold beer. 

Tin Roof Tap Room

Yoga on the brewery floor at Tin Roof

Okay, this isn't really "eats," but Tuesdays at Tin Roof combine two of my favorite activities: drinking beer and contorting my body in ways that are unnatural. Both are great ways to relax the mind, body, and spirit. Every other Tuesday from 6 to 7 Tin Roof and Purusa yoga team up to make the ~good vibes~ and beer flow. After a little downward dog and child's pose, grab a $3 half-pint of Turnrow from 7 to 10 p.m.

Pat's Seafood & Cajun Deli

Pat's is new to Baton Rouge but well-respected in Cajun country. On Tuesday, Pat's might just have the best deal on boiled crawfish in town: $3/pound! Plus, for $15 they'll give you a bucket of beer to wash down the spicy tails. Crawfish needn't be relegated to weekend-only fare.

Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar

Battered fish tacos at Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar in downtown Baton Rouge

Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar's Taco Tuesday goes down from 4 to 11 p.m. They do $1 beef and veggie tacos, $2 chicken tacos, and $3 fish tacos. Plus, they offer a two-for-one special on $6 margaritas and specialty draft beers. The best way to do this is to get an assortment of the tacos and share them with friends.

Rock-n-Sake

LSU roll at Rock-n-Sake

This is the deal of the century. Rock-n-Sake's LSU roll, normally about $14 a pop, is only $5 on Tuesdays. And the roll is everything I love in a sushi roll: tempura shrimp and cream cheese rolled with layers of snow crab crab topped with tuna and avocado and drizzled in Rock-n-Sake's housemade eel sauce.

Jazz Feast: The Food Festival within a Festival

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Squeal BBQ's Smoky Bacon Greens and Jazz Fest favorite Fried Green Tomatoes

Though the Jazz Fest line-up changes every year, there are a couple of things that typically remain consistent: the crowds and the food vendors. It’s been a long-running joke that a food vendor has to die before another new vendor gets the chance to dish out grub to hungry music fans.

Blair Loup and her brother Jake at Jazz Fest waiting to see Hozier play.

As it turns out, this year a handful of food vendors chose to retire, bringing a few new bites to the food market. I dragged my older brother Jake to the festival opening day to help me eat…and to see the devastatingly beautiful Hozier play.

We enjoyed some of the classics: fried green tomatoes, cochon de lait po-boy, sweet potato turnover, etc. But the smoky bacon greens from new food vendor Squeal landed at the top of our list.

There are a lot of classic Jazz Fest foods, and while we didn’t get the chance to eat all of them, I finally tried one of the most famous of Jazz Fest bites for the first time. I have been a fest goer for a little over half a decade and had never tried crawfish bread. After one bite, I’d be willing to get a heart tattooed on my shoulder with crawfish bread inscribed at its center. Below are a handful of the foods and beverages I saw and had the pleasure of ingesting:

Rose mint tea at Jazz Fest is one of those things I can't live without. It's herbaceous and sweetened with local honey. It's the bee knees, and if you haven't tried it you need to reevaluate your life choices.

Rose Mint Tea

While fried chicken and jambalaya aren't hard to come by in Louisiana, there are a lot of festival attendees from out of state. While we take it for granted, the food at Jazz Fest is an all new discovery for those who come from all over the country. I saw people chomping down on this crispy fried chicken all day and smiling ear to ear.

Classic Fried Chicken and Jambalaya

The cochon de lait po-boy is a must-have at Jazz Fest. This hefty fellow is packed with succulent pork that's perfect if you're planning on indulging in a few beers or daiquiris between shows...or throughout the day.

Cochon de Lait Po-Boy

Thanks to the festival gods, we find ourselves in the midst of crawfish season during Jazz Fest. There's no smell as tantalizing as a fresh pot of boiled crawfish. It's not a five pound tray of crawfish, but it's enough to get a taste. As previously mentioned, boiled crawfish is a delicacy to all, but curiously pursued by those who travel to the fest... hopefully with elastic in their waistbands. 

Boiled Crawfish

I noticed a man walking by with what looked like the ultimate trio of deliciousness. A crispy fried oyster po-boy accompanied by fluffy, savory crawfish beignets drowned in a cream sauce would be a sin to enjoy even if you stopped there. However, to also wash them down with a sweet blackberry cobbler... I love Louisiana.

From left to right: Fried Oyster Po-Boy, Blackberry Cobbler, and Crawfish Beignets

Squeal BBQ stepped up to the plate to replace a former BBQ vendor at the fest. The line outside their booth seemed constant throughout the day. Hopefully they'll be back next year slinging more of their tasty 'que to fest goers!

BBQ Chicken Sandwich (left) and BBQ Brisket Sandwich (right) from Squeal BBQ

Finally, after 24 years of searching, I found love. I don't know what I expected, but the crawfish bread at Jazz Fest lived up to every bit of hype I've ever heard. A religious experience within itself, crawfish bread is cheesy, spicy, buttery, and all I want until the end of time.

Crawfish Bread

Bite and Booze Bonus: Don't skip on the sweets. Most of the bands I go to see at Jazz Fest perform on the Gentily Stage. Along the way, a small booth laid tucked away from the crowd serving up some of the most delicious Macaroons I've tasted. Also, on your way to the market (heading from the Acura Stage to the Gentily Stage side) stop and grab a sweet potato turnover!

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask: Whisk(e)y Wednedsay presented by Lock & Key

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask

Whisk(e)y Wednesday gets back to scoring this week as we take a good long sip of The Balvenie 14 year Caribbean Cask single malt Scotch. This whisky is aged most of its life in used bourbon barrels but then finished at the end inside some Caribbean rum barrels. Brilliant.

The nose is soft and easy with hints of sweet honeysuckle, slight citrus, and minimal peat. Oak and raw sugar come forward with some vanilla as well. On the tongue you get a salty sensation and trickle of molasses. It tastes like a salt and sugar brine with a touch of lemon. There's a waft of smoke as well that didn't come through on the nose. The whisky finishes with a slight burn at the back of the mouth and then a smooth passage to the stomach. It then disappears like a pirate plundered any residuals. It goes too fast, really, and leaves you with nothing but a sensation of apple juice and a memory of what used to be.

The Scotch is remarkably balanced but not complex. It is mellow and delightful, packing one, albeit fantastic, note but perhaps leaving the seasoned Scotch drinker wanting a little bit more. Though, for those looking for a smooth, drinkable Scotch that isn't aggressively smoky or peaty, this is a great choice. At $17 a pour, The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask is not the best deal at Lock & Key, but it is isn't a bad value for the quality of the whisky. A score of 81.33 puts it into the Top 20 leader board for Whisk(e)y Wednesday. That's saying something, for sure.

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask
Average Score: 81.33

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, and Eric Ducote from BR Beer Scene. Using our own proprietary scoring system, whiskeys are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, Balance and Complexity, and "Bang for the Buck" which should encompass the whiskey's overall value. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable, you'd let somebody buy you one) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss, anything above 80 is rather extraordinary, and anything above 90 is world class.

Open Wide! May is National Burger Month

Sorry, but there is nothing more American than a burger. Okay, not sorry.

It's a classic combination – a mound of ground beef nestled amongst crisp vegetables, slathered with creamy condiments, and sandwiched between a soft, fresh bun. The sight of a burger conjures up feelings of nostalgia and images of spacious skies, amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties above the fruited plains.

That's why each May, our nation sets aside a month to celebrate the hamburger. That's right, kids. It's NATIONAL HAMBURGER MONTH.

In honor of such a gastronomic celebration, here are a few of Baton Rouge's craziest burgers for you to get your little paws on this month:

The Hardcore Burger

Hot Tails in New Roads knows hot to do burgers

This Hot Tails burger is so hardcore it comes with a knife stabbed into the top of it. This thing is not to be messed with. While the New Roads restaurant might be better known for their take on Cajun cuisine and most notably for their boiled crawfish, the folks there can throw down on some burgers. They've got different spins on the classic such as their Oyster Rockafeller Burger or this bad boy photographed above with a heaping glob of melted cheese, crawfish tails, and a whole lot more. Add in some of their signature Spillway Sauce and a cold beer, and this burger is tough to beat.

Bite and Booze Burger

The Bite and Booze Burger from Barcadia Baton Rouge

Barcadia Baton Rouge ran this beauty as their burger of the week recently, so we're just hoping they keep it around  little longer or bring it back from time to time. The Bite and Booze Burger consists of Barcadia/Curbside's house ground patty topped with smoked cheddar, 12 hour smoked pork, and of course Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce incorporated into a slaw. They also throw some kettle chips onto the burger for good measure. Make it happen on your taste buds.

The Ridiculously Tall Burger Challenge

Jay Ducote gets a good look at the Triple Quarters Burger

This Triple Quarters Burger is totally impossible to eat without disassembling, and it's big enough to feed a small army. Seriously, this burger is nuts. Just because you can stack three burgers on top of each other doesn't necessarily mean you should. But, we're kind of glad Quarters did... And for the month of May, you can take on the Triple Quarters Burger Challenge. Eat the burger and the accompanying cheese fries and you get it for free, plus a $25 gift card, a roll of toilet paper, and your picture on the wall. Don't finish it all, and you're out $39.99.

The Breakfast Burger

Mason's Grill always has a knack for outdoing themselves. Their Breakfast Burger is no exception. This monstrosity looks like it was thought up by Dr. Frankenstein himself: a homemade sausage patty on top of a fried egg on top of bacon on top of a hamburger patty on top of another fried egg, dressed with lettuce, tomato and onions. It's a must-try because... for real... the flavors work. This is a tasty burger. See the breakfast burger, barbecue burger, and Cajun shrimp burger in this video from Bite and Booze, tommysTV, and 225 Magazine:

The Expensive Burger

A crosscut of Restaurant IPO's Wall Street Burger

This burger is not all that enormous, but its price tag is. If you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can't afford it. Restaurant IPO's Wall Street Burger is the classiest burger money can buy. The patty consists of house prime beef, and it's topped with sautéed duck confit, smoked Vidalia onion jam, merlot truffle mayonnaise, gruyere cheese, seared foie gras, sautéed wild mushrooms and a sunny side up egg. It also comes with a spit of Pinot Noir to help wash down all the richness. It's the kind of burger that sends the message, "I have more money than God." Okay, really it's only $55, and because of the truffle and foie and duck, you can understand why. The thing is, on rare occasion, it can be worth it. Just consider splitting it between a few people and getting some other tapas too while you're there.

The Royal Burger

Two Big Ben Burgers that did not get finished. Photo Courtesy of The Londoner on Facebook

Kate just gave birth to a royal baby girl, but there's no way that kid weighed as much as he Big Ben Burger at The Londoner. This monstrosity of a burger is yet another challenge that the competitive eater can tackle in Baton Rouge. Just ask you server for the Big Ben Burger challenge, make a happy plate in 45 minutes, and its yours for free. If you can't handle the whole thing or if you just want to order the burger to share it'll cost you $35.